High efficiency encoding

Abstract: In a high efficiency encoding method in which pre-set bit allocation is made for digital information signals of plural channels and in which coded information signals are produced by the allocated bits, it is desirable to avoid sound quality deterioration produced by pre-echo during abrupt changes in the information signals as well as to suppress pre-echo to ensure aurally desirable bit allocation. To this end, in a high efficiency encoding method in which digital information signals (31, 41) of plural channels are normalized by normalizing units (37, 47) and pre-set bit allocation is made by a bit allocation unit (38) to effect pre-set bit allocation, the amounts of bit allocation between channels are controlled on the basis of temporal changes of the information signals of the respective channels. Also, the amounts of bit allocation between channels are controlled based on temporal changes of the amplitude information of digital information signals of the respective channels. At least a part of the bits that may be used for bit allocation is preferentially allocated for channels having larger temporal changes of the information signals depending on the magnitude of temporal changes of the information signals among the plural channels. As a result, deterioration in the sound quality due to pre-echo during high efficiency encoding may be prevented in a system having plural audio signal channels.

Description: This invention relates to high efficiency encoding methods for encoding input digital data by high efficiency encoding, whereupon the encoded data may be transmitted or recorded. There are a variety of high efficiency encoding methods for audio or voice signals. Typical of these are: a sub-band coding (SBC) system, which is a non-block forming frequency band dividing system which comprises dividing the time-domain signals into signals of plural frequency bands without dividing the time-domain audio signals into plural blocks; and a block-forming frequency band dividing system which comprises dividing time-domain signals into plural blocks, transforming the resulting blocks into frequency-domain signals by orthogonal transformation, and encoding the resulting frequency-domain signals from one frequency band to another, also known as transform coding. Also known is high efficiency encoding comprising a combination of sub-band coding and transform coding, in which the time-domain signals are divided into signals of plural frequency bands by sub-band coding, and the signals of the respective bands are orthogonally transformed into frequency-domain signals which are then encoded from one band to another. A filter employed in the above methods may be exemplified by a quadrature mirror filter (QMF) discussed in 1976 R.E. Crochiere, Digital Coding of Speech in Sub-bands, Bell Syst. Tech. J., Vol. 55, No.8, 1976. An equal-band filter dividing method employing a polyphase quadrature filter is discussed in ICASSP 83, Boston, Polyphase Quadrature Filter - A New Sub-band Coding Technique, by Joseph H. Rothweiler. The orthogonal transform may be enumerated by an orthogonal transform consisting in forming input audio signals into blocks at an interval of a pre-set unit time period (frame), and processing the resulting blocks by a fast Fourier transform (FFT), discrete cosine transform (DCT) or modified DCT (MDCT) for transforming time-domain signals into frequency-domain signals. Regarding MDCT, reference is made to ICASSP 1987, Subband/Transform Coding Using Filter Band Designs Based on Time Domain Aliasing Cancellation, J. P. Princen, A. B. Bradley, Univ. of Surrey, Royal Melbourne Inst. of Tech. Concrete techniques for MDCT are discussed in detail in our co-pending US Patent Application Serial No. 07/950 945 filed on 24 September 1992. In quantizing the frequency components, the frequency bands are selected to take into account the characteristics of the human aural sense. That is, the audio signals are divided into a plurality of bands, for example 25 bands, known as critical bands, in which the bandwidths become broader in a direction of increasing frequencies. In encoding data of the respective frequency bands, a pre-set number of bits are allocated to each band, or variable numbers of bits are allocated to each band by way of adaptive bit allocation. For example, when encoding coefficient data obtained by MDCT by bit allocation, the MDCT coefficient data of the respective bands obtained by block-based MDCT are encoded by adaptive numbers of bits. The following two bit allocation methods are known. In IEEE Transactions of Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, vol.ASSP-25, No.4, August 1977, bit allocation is made based on the magnitudes of the signals of the respective bands. With this system, the quantization noise spectrum becomes flatter and the noise energy becomes minimum. However, the noise as actually perceived by the ear is not optimum because the aural masking effect is not utilized. In ICASSP 1980, The Critical Band Coder - Digital Encoding of the Perceptual Requirements of the Auditory System, M. A. Kransner, MIT, there is discussed a method of producing the signal to noise ratio as required for each band for realizing fixed bit allocation. However, it is not possible with this method to produce a satisfactory characteristic value because the bit allocation remains fixed even for measuring the characteristic with a sine wave input. With the above-described methods, temporal characteristics, such as time fluctuations of the input information signals, are not taken into account. As a result thereof, the problem of highly jarring pre-echo, which is produced when the input information signals are changed abruptly in amplitude, and above all when small information signals are changed to larger information signals, cannot be solved. (The expression pre-echo means a phenomenon in which the quantization noise produced directly before the small information signal is abruptly changed to the larger information signal is heard without being covered by backward masking to cause deterioration in the sound quality.) As a method of decreasing the pre-echo to a level imperceptible to the ear, the present applicants have already proposed, in US Patent Application Serial No. 07/553 608 filed on 18 July 1990, a method consisting in adaptively changing the block length. Specifically, the method consists in sub-dividing a block where acutely changing signals exist whereby there is a high risk of occurrence of pre-echo. Although the pre-echo may be effectively suppressed with this method, pre-echo still exists in the subdivided block portions, albeit to a limited extent. If bit allocation is made in consideration only of frequency characteristics, it is difficult to avoid deterioration of the sound quality due to pre-echo during abrupt transition of the information signals. Thus, there is a demand for a method of effectively preventing pre-echo from occurring. European Patent Application Publication No. EP-A-0446031 discloses a high efficiency encoding method according to the pre-characterising part of claim 1 hereof. According to the present invention there is provided a high efficiency encoding method for digital information signals of plural channels in which a totality of bits is allocated among the channels based on temporal changes of the digital information signal in at least one of the plural channels, the method being characterised in that: a respective number of bits is allocated to each of the plural channels, from the totality of bits, as a first bit allocation, each respective first bit allocation being based upon an information signal spectrum of a respective channel; and an additional number of bits is allocated to at least one of the plural channels, from the totality of bits, as a second bit allocation, each respective second bit allocation being based upon temporal changes of an energy value of the digital information signal in the respective channel. A preferred embodiment of the invention described in detail hereinbelow seeks to provide a method for bit allocation which is free from pre-echo insofar as the human aural sense is concerned. With a high efficiency encoding device and method according to the preferred embodiment, pre-echo is prevented by preferentially allocating at least a part of the bits that may be used for bit allocation to channels having larger temporal changes of the information signals in dependence upon the temporal changes of the information signals between channels. Detection and decision of the magnitude of temporal changes of the information signals in dependence upon temporal changes of a scale factor as normalization information of the frequency components of the information signals is effective for avoiding new arithmetic and logical operations because this parameter forms a part of the sub-data to be transmitted from the encoder to the decoder. As an alternative method, detection and decision based on temporal changes of the amplitude information of sub-blocks on a time scale obtained on further division of the time width of the block having the scale factor is also desirable for performance. Changing the bit allocation not only between channels but also in the channels based on the temporal changes of the signal information between neighboring blocks in the channels is effective in further reducing pre-echo. In accordance with the preferred embodiment, for resolving the time-domain information signals into frequency-domain signals, a structure in which an output of non-block forming frequency analysis means such as a filter, an output of block forming frequency analysis, such as an orthogonal transform, or an output of the non-block forming frequency analysis mapped on the frequency scale by block-forming frequency analysis, such as an orthogonal transform, may be employed. In bit allocation, it is possible to allocate a portion of the bits available for bit allocation as a first bit allocation depending on the information signal spectrum of the respective channels and to employ the remaining bits by appendage to the first bit allocation. Among the appended bits, bit allocation can be made for the channels in conformity with the temporal characteristics of the information signals and among the channels. By causing the ratio between the bit allocation conforming to the information signals of the respective channels and the appended bit allocation to depend on the temporal changes of the information signals, it is possible to achieve bit allocation which is further desirable as regards sound quality. If the block size of the orthogonal transform is adaptively changed depending on time characteristics of the information signals, at the same time that the bit allocation is made between the channels, it becomes possible to increase the block length to raise the frequency resolution if the information signal are sub-steady signals, while it is also possible to raise the time resolution to reduce the time of occurrence of pre-echo to prevent the sound quality from being lowered if the information signals are non-steady signals. The preferred embodiment provides a system which is capable of reducing deterioration in sound quality due to pre-echo likely to be produced in high efficiency encoding and which is convenient for an audio recording and replay of cinema or an audio system in which high sound quality is necessary. The invention will now be further described, by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.1 is a block circuit diagram showing an illustrative arrangement of a high efficiency encoding device embodying the invention; Fig.2 illustrates the manner in which the device of Fig.1 divides signals along the time scale and along the frequency scale; Fig.3 is a block diagram showing an arrangement for finding a multi-channel bit-allocation parameter with the device shown in Fig.1; Fig.4 is a graph showing a manner of finding tonality; Fig.5 is a graph showing a manner of first bit allocation; Fig.6 is a graph showing a noise spectrum in the case of uniform allocation in the first bit allocation; Fig.7 is a graph showing an example of a noise spectrum by bit allocation for producing aural effects exhibiting dependency on the signal level and dependency on the frequency spectrum of information signals; Fig.8 is a graph showing the noise spectrum in the case of uniform allocation in a second bit allocation; Fig.9 is a graph showing an example of bit allocation for producing aural effects exhibiting dependency on the signal level and dependency on the frequency spectrum of information signals; Fig.10 shows a manner of finding a parameter for bit allocation which takes into account temporal characteristics of the information signals between channels; Fig.11 is a block circuit diagram showing an illustrative arrangement of a high efficiency decoding device; Fig.12 is a graph showing the relation between the amount of first bit allocation and channel-averaged tonality; and Fig.13 is a graph showing the relation between the amount of first bit allocation and channel-averaged time rate of change. A technique for high efficiency encoding of input digital signals, such as audio PCM signals, by sub-band coding (SBC), adaptive transform coding (ATC) and adaptive bit allocation (APC-AB), will now be explained in detail with reference to Fig.1. In a high efficiency encoding device shown in Fig.1, input digital signals are divided by a filter or the like into a plurality of frequency bands and orthogonally transformed from one frequency band to another to produce frequency-domain spectral data which is encoded by adaptive bit allocation on the basis of the critical bands which take into account the characteristics of the human aural sense as later explained. At this time, the critical bands are sub-divided into blocks as the frequency is increased. The frequency bands may naturally be of equal widths in the case of the non-block forming system which is performed with the aid of a filter or the like. Besides, in the present embodiment, the block size or the block length is adaptively changed prior to orthogonal transform depending on the input signals and a floating operation is performed on the basis of critical bands or of blocks sub-divided from the critical bands for higher frequencies. The critical bands mean the frequency bands which result from frequency division taking into account the characteristics of the human aural sense. That is, the critical band is the band proper to a narrow band noise which masks a pure tone having the same intensity as the noise and the frequency in the vicinity of the noise frequency. The total frequency range of from 0 to 22 kHz is divided into e.g. 25 critical bands which are selected so that the bandwidths become broader towards the higher frequencies. Referring to Fig.1, audio PCM signals having the frequency range of from 0 to 22 kHz, for example, are supplied to an input terminal 10. The input signals are divided by a band-dividing filter 11, such as a QMF filter, into a band of from 0 to 11 kHz and a band of from 11 to 22 kHz. The frequency band of 0 to 11 kHz is divided by a band-dividing filter 12 into a band of 0 to 5.5 kHz and a band of 5.5 to 11 kHz. The 11 kHz to 22 kHz signal from the filter 11 is supplied to a modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) circuit 13, as an example of an orthogonal transform circuit, while the 5.5 kHz to 11 kHz signal from the filter 12 is supplied to a modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) circuit 14 and the 0 kHz to 5.5 kHz signal from the filter 12 is supplied to a modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) circuit 15 so as to be processed with MDCT. Fig.2 shows a concrete example of a block size for the MDCT circuits 13 to 15. In the concrete example of Fig.2, each of the three filter outputs has two block sizes for orthogonal transform. That is, for low frequency signals in the frequency band of 0 to 5.5 kHz and mid frequency signals in the frequency band of 5.5 to 11 kHz, each block is made up of 128 samples and 32 samples for the long block size (Fig.2A) and for the short block size (Fig.2B), respectively. On the other hand, for high frequency signals in the frequency band of 11 to 22 kHz, each block is made up of 256 samples and 32 samples for the long block size (Fig.2A) and for the short block size (Fig.2B), respectively. If the short block size is selected in this manner, the time resolution is increased towards the higher frequency and the number of kinds of the windows employed is decreased, with the number of samples of the orthogonal transform for each band remaining the same. Returning to Fig.1, the frequency-domain spectral data or MDCT coefficients, obtained by the MDCT circuits 13 to 15, are grouped according to the critical bands or, in a higher frequency range, according to small-sized blocks further divided from the critical bands, and transmitted to adaptive bit allocation encoding circuits 16, 17 and 18. The spectral data or the MDCT coefficient data are re-quantized depending on the number of bits allocated by the adaptive bit allocation encoding circuits 16, 17 and 18 for each of the critical bands or, in a higher frequency range, for each of the small-sized blocks further divided from the critical bands. The data thus encoded are outputted at output terminals 22, 24 and 26. The scale factor indicating which normalization is used as to the signal magnitude and the bit length information indicating which bit length has been used are transmitted simultaneously. As for the outputs of the MDCT circuits 13 to 15 shown in Fig.1, the signal energies for the critical bands or those for the small-sized blocks sub-divided from the critical bands are found, such as by computing the roots of squared mean values of the respective amplitude values in the bands. The scale factor itself may naturally be employed for subsequent bit allocation. In such case, new energy computation becomes unnecessary resulting in saving in the hardware scale. The peak or mean values of the amplitude values may naturally be employed in place of the energies for the respective bands. The operation of the adaptive bit allocation circuit is explained by referring to Fig.3. Although there are eight channels in the present embodiment, only channels 1 and 8 are shown in Fig.3, while the remaining channels are omitted. The common portions to the channels are explained using the channel 1. Input information signals of the channel 1 are supplied to an input terminal 31. The input information signals are mapped from the time-domain signals on the frequency axis by a mapping function 32. If the filter is employed, the sub-band signals become time-domain samples. In the case of the orthogonal-transformed output, frequency-domain samples are produced. These samples are grouped into sets each consisting of plural samples by a block-forming function 33. If the filter is employed, plural time-domain samples are grouped together, while, in the case of the orthogonal-transformed output, plural frequency-domain samples are grouped together. In the embodiment of Fig. 1, temporal changes of MDCT input time-domain signals during mapping are calculated by a temporal change calculating function 44. The samples grouped into the blocks each consisting of plural samples by the block-forming function 33 are normalized by a normalizing function 37. The scale factor, a coefficient for normalization, is calculated by a scale factor calculating function 35. From the calculated scale factor, the magnitude of tonality is calculated by a tonality calculating function 36. The parameter found in this manner is employed for bit allocation in a bit allocation function 38. If the number of bits which represents the MDCT coefficient and which is ready to be used for transmission or recording is assumed to be 800 kbps for the entire channels, the number of bits employed for the first bit allocation is determined in the present embodiment. To this end, among the information concerning the signal spectrum, (a) the information concerning tonality and (b) the information concerning the temporal changes of the signal information, are employed. Referring first to the information concerning the tonality, the sum of absolute values of the differences between neighboring values of the signal spectral components divided by the number of signal spectral components is employed as an index. More precisely, the mean value of the differences between neighboring scale factor indices of the block-based scale factors for block floating is employed as the index. The scale factor index substantially corresponds to a logarithm of the scale factor. In the present embodiment, the amount of bits to be employed for the first bit allocation is associated with the value indicating the tonality and is set to a maximum value of 600 kbps and a minimum value of 300 kbps. The tonality is calculated in the following manner. Tm = (1/WLmax)*(ΣABS (SFn - SF(n - 1)) Tav = (1/CH) ΣTm where Tm = tonality of each channel m = channel number WLmax = maximum value of word length = 16 Ch = number of channels SFn = scale factor index substantially corresponding to the logarithm of the peak value n : band number for block floating Tav : channel-averaged tonality The value of Tav found in this manner is associated with the first amount of bit allocation as shown in Fig.12. In the present embodiment, the proportion of distribution between allocation to the first bit allocation pattern and at least one other bit allocation to be appended thereto depends on the characteristics of temporal changes of the information signals. In the present embodiment, the time area in which the information signal amplitudes become abruptly larger is detected by comparing the peak values of the signal information for adjacent blocks for each time domain divided from the time block size for orthogonal transform to determine the proportion of distribution. The temporal rate of change is calculated in the following manner. Vt = ΣVm Vav = (1/Vmax)*(1/Ch)Vt where Vt : the sum for each channel of changes of the peak value of the time sub-block of each channel from a smaller value to a larger value, expressed in db Vm : the magnitude of the largest one of the changes of the peak value of the time sub-block of each channel from a smaller value to a larger value, expressed in db, with the maximum value being limited to 30 db and expressed as Vmax m : channel number Ch : number of channels Vav : channel-averaged changes of the peak value of the time sub-block of each channel from a smaller value to a larger value, expressed in db The value of Vav found in this manner is associated with the amount of the first bit allocation as shown in Fig.13. Ultimately, the amount of the first bit allocation is found by the following equation: B = 1/2 (Bf + Bt) where B : ultimate value of the first bit allocation Bf : the mount of bit allocation as found from Tav Bt : the mount of bit allocation as found from Vav After the amount of bits employed for the first bit allocation is determined in this manner, bit allocation is made for each channel for the first bit allocation. Various selection may be made depending on the signal properties. Adaptive bit allocation may naturally be made depending on the distribution of the scale factor on the frequency scale. In this case, effective bit allocation may be made by bit allocation between the channels depending on the distribution of the scale factor on the frequency scale for the totality of channels. In this case, if the signal information of plural channels is mixed in the same sound field to reach left and right ears as in the case of speakers, it may be assumed that effective masking is made by the mixed signals of the totality of the channels. Therefore, it is effective to perform bit allocation so that the same noise level is achieved for the respective channels. To this end, it suffices to perform bit allocation in proportion to the magnitude of the scale factor indices. Bm = B* ΣSFn/S S = Σ( ΣSFn) where Bm : the amount of first bit allocation for each channel B : the amount of first bit allocation for totality of channels SFn = scale factor index substantially corresponding to the logarithm of the peak value n = band number of block floating m = channel number S = sum of indices of scale factors of the totality of channels Then, allocation of bits not employed in the first bit allocation is carried out. Various bit allocations are carried out herein. (1) Uniform allocation for the totality of sample values The quantization noise spectrum for the bit allocation in this case is shown in Fig.6. Uniform noise level reduction may be made for the totality of the frequency bands. (2) Bit allocation for realizing aural effects exhibiting the dependency on the signal level and the frequency spectrum of the signal information An exemplary quantization noise spectrum for the bit allocation in this case is shown in Fig.7. In the present case, bit allocation is performed in dependence upon the spectrum of the information signals. In particular, bit allocation is performed so as to place emphasis on the low frequency side of the information signal spectrum to compensate for decreased masking effects on the low frequency side which occurs more pronouncedly than on the high frequency side. This is based on the non-symmetry of a masking curve which places emphasis on the low frequency of the signal spectrum to take account of the masking between neighboring critical bands. Figs.8 and 9 illustrate the manner of bit allocation. In the case of low-tonality input signals where the signal spectrum is smooth over the entire frequency range, more bits are allocated to the first bit allocation as shown in Fig.8. Conversely, in the case of high tonality input signals, the amount of bits is decreased for the first bit allocation, as shown in Fig.9, whereas the amount of bits for the second bit allocation is increased, as shown in Fig.9, so that more bits are allocated to the signal spectrum having a larger level. In Figs. 7 and 9, second bit allocation is set so as to place emphasis on the low frequency side. In the present embodiment, there are a variety of patterns of bit allocation in which the amounts of bits of blocks of shorter time duration are distributed for the respective frequencies. In the present embodiment, above all, plural patterns of bit allocation are provided in which the rates of bit allocation are different for the mid to low frequency range and the high frequency range. Such a pattern is selected in which the smaller the signal magnitude, the lesser is the amount of bit allocation to the higher frequency side. In this manner, it becomes possible to take advantage of the loudness effects in which the sensitivity for the higher frequency is lowered for a smaller signal magnitude. Although the signal magnitude of the entire frequency range may be employed at this time for the signal magnitude, an output of a non-block forming frequency dividing circuit employing a filter or an MDCT output is utilized. Ultimately, the sum of the first bit allocation and the bit allocation annexed to the first bit allocation is found by a bit allocation function 38 shown in Fig.3. The present embodiment comprises, in addition to the above, a process of detecting the temporal change characteristics of the signals of the respective channels to change the amounts of bit allocation for the respective channels. An index representative of the temporal changes is found in the following manner. If there are eight channels as shown in Fig.10, the bit allocating time blocks, as time units of bit allocation of the information input signals of the respective channels, are temporally divided into four sub-blocks for each of which the peak value is found. The bits are distributed between the channels depending on the magnitude of the differences of the peak values of the sub-blocks which are changed from a smaller value to a larger value. If a sum total of C bits are available for bit allocation for the eight channels, and the differences of the peak values of the sub-blocks changed from a smaller value to a larger value are expressed as a , b , c , d , e , f , g and h db, bit allocation may be made by C*a/T, C*b/T, ··· C*h/T bits, where T = a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h. The larger the rate of increase of the signal information the more the number of bits allocated to the channels. The ultimate bit allocation is made as the sum of the bits of the above-mentioned bit allocations. Besides, if the number of bits that may be used for each bit allocation is equal to C, it is possible to provide t bits as a countermeasure for the pre-echo. That is, if the C-t bits are the number of bits that may be used in the eight channels, and the magnitude of the differences of the peak values of the respective sub-blocks of each channel are expressed as a , b , c , d , e , f , g and h db, the bit allocation may be made by (C - t)*a/T, (C - t)*b/T, .... (C - t)*h/T bits. For one of the channels in which the pre-echo is of a maximum value, that is in which there exists the maximum value among a , b , c , d , e , f , g and h , the t-bits are 5 allocated preferentially. Consequently, more t-bits are allocated to this channel so that pre-echo may be decreased significantly. In particular, when the present technique is used for a sound track of a cinefilm, in which main forward signals FR FL is critical, the t-bits may be 10 allocated to one of them. Alternatively, the t-bits may be allocated to a woofer channel. Fig.11 shows a decoding circuit for decoding the high-efficiency coded signals. The quantized MDCT coefficients for the respective bands are supplied to input terminals 15 122, 124, 126 leading to inputs of decoding circuits 116, 117 and 118, while the block size information employed is supplied to input terminals 123, 125 and 127 which lead to the decoding circuits 116, 117 and 118 and also to inverse MDCT (IMDCT) circuits 113, 114 and 115. The decoding 20 circuits 116, 117 and 118 release bit allocation using the adaptive bit allocation information. In the IMDCT circuits 113, 114 and 115, the frequency domain signals are transformed into time-domain signals. The time-domain signals of the partial range are decoded by inverse QMF 25 (IQMF) circuits 111, 112 into the entire range of signals and supplied to an output terminal 110. It will be seen from above that the present embodiment provides a method of bit allocation which is aurally desirable for compression of temporally fluctuated 30 information signals in a multi-channel system. Signals encoded by methods embodying the invention may be recorded on a recording medium, such as a cinefilm, an optical disc, a magnetic tape or a magneto-optical disc; or may be transmitted on a digital information transmission channel.

Claims: A high efficiency encoding method for digital information signals of plural channels in which a totality of bits is allocated among the channels based on temporal changes of the digital information signal in at least one of the plural channels, the method being characterised in that : a respective number of bits is allocated (38) to each of the plural channels, from the totality of bits, as a first bit allocation, each respective first bit allocation being based upon an information signal spectrum of a respective channel; and an additional number of bits is allocated (38) to at least one of the plural channels, from the totality of bits, as a second bit allocation, each respective second bit allocation being based upon temporal changes of an energy value of the digital information signal in the respective channel. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said energy value is at least one of amplitude information, a peak value and a mean value. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the amounts of the second bit allocation among the channels are controlled depending on temporal changes of a scale factor of the respective channels. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the amounts of the second bit allocation among the channels are controlled depending on temporal changes of the scale factor of the respective channels and temporal changes of word lengths caused by bit allocation among the channels. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the amounts of the second bit allocation among the channels are controlled depending on temporal changes of amplitude information of temporally neighbouring plural blocks for the respective channels. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the totality of bits employed for bit allocation is divided into the first bit allocation, which depends on a pattern of indices indicating signal magnitude in small blocks obtained by sub-division with respect to time and frequency, and at least one second bit allocation for aural effects, the second bit allocation being appended to said first bit allocation. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the ratio of distribution between said first bit allocation and at least one second bit allocation is adaptively controlled depending on the information signals. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said ratio of distribution is controlled so that the larger the temporal changes in said information signals, the lesser becomes the ratio of distribution for said first bit allocation. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein an output of non-block forming frequency analysis is analyzed by block-forming frequency analysis, such as orthogonal transform, after the non-block forming frequency analysis, for producing samples in small blocks obtained by sub-division with respect to time and frequency. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the non-block forming frequency analysis is performed by a filter (11, 12). A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said filter (11, 12) is a polyphase quadrature filter. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said filter (11, 12) is a quadrature mirror filter. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein said block-forming frequency analysis is effected by MDCT. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the block size for said block-forming frequency analysis is adaptively changed depending on temporal characteristics of input signals. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein said block size is changed independently for each of at least two output bands of the non-block forming frequency analysis. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the coded information is recorded on a recording medium. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said recording medium is a cinefilm, an optical disc, a magnetic tape or a magneto-optical disc. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the coded information is transmitted on a digital information transmission channel.

Inventors: AKAGIRI KENZO, AKAGIRI, KENZO, AKAGIRI, KENZO, C/O INT. PROPERTY DIVISION
Applicants: SONY CORP, SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: H04B1
IPC codes: H04B1, H04N7, H03M7